Fluorescence Microscopy

Fluorescence Microscopy is a form of light microscopy that rather than using absorption, phase or interference effects, uses fluorescence to identify structures in fixed and live biological samples. Fluorescence is achieved through the use of inorganic dyes, proteins, synthetic beads or by autofluorescence from the sample itself. A significant difference between fluorescence microscopy and Brightfield microscopy is that fluorescence microscopes use incident light instead of transmitted light and therefore the beam path is more complex than that in Brightfield microscopes.

Fluorescence microscopy is a common tool for today's life science research because it allows the use of multicolour staining, labelling of structures within cells, and the measurement of the physiological state of a cell.